Department for Transport

EU Law: Large Goods Vehicles

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to contest the European Commission’s decision to open an infringement case against the UK over time-based road charges for heavy goods vehicles.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Commission has requested information prior to reaching a considered view about the UK’s HGV Levy and its compatibility with EU Directives. The Government considers that the levy is justified and consistent with the free movement of goods, and will respond to the Commission in due course.

Home Office

Freemasonry

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports of collusion within the police forces and other agencies after the Hillsborough disaster, whether they will introduce legislation to prevent serving members of the police force and the judiciary from belonging to the freemasons.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Any police officer must be able to discharge their duties within the law and is expected to abide by the oath of constable. The Standards of Professional Behaviour, set out in Schedule 2 to the Police (Conduct) Regulations (2012), require police officers to be ‘honest, act with integrity and . . . not compromise or abuse their position’. Police officers must be able to do so, irrespective of membership of any external membership organisations.The College of Policing introduced a Code of Ethics in July 2014 which applies to all police officers and staff in England and Wales and sets out clear principles and standards of behaviour expected of them. It is for individual forces to determine whether an individual officer’s behaviour or misconduct meets the standards that are set out and where they are not, to investigate and instigate disciplinary proceedings where appropriate.Following the Chapman Review in 2014, the Government is continuing its programme of reforms to improve police integrity and the police discipline system, including through the Policing and Crime Bill which is currently before parliament to improve the system and its ability to hold officers to account for their actions and behaviour.In the case of judges it is also essential to the rule of law that they are independent and impartial when exercising their judicial functions. All judicial office holders should recuse themselves in any case where bias or the appearance of bias arises and are counselled against engaging in any activity which might undermine or be reasonably thought to undermine their judicial independence or impartiality. These commitments are enshrined in the judicial oath.

Leader of the House of Lords

Human Rights

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask the Leader of the House whether time will be made in the Parliamentary timetable for a full debate on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Report 2015.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: My Noble Friend the Government Chief Whip does not expect to be able to facilitate a full debate on the report before the end of this session, but from the start of the new session, the usual mechanisms - which include balloted debates, Thursday debates, and questions for short debate - will be available to secure a debate on the Report.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

North Korea: Sexual Offences

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the UK is taking in regard to North Korea to ensure that the three objectives of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative are met.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) falls outside of the scope of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), which is focused on addressing impunity for sexual violence committed in conflict zones. However whilst the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not currently run projects directly aimed at preventing sexual violence in the DPRK, we continue to support projects aimed at improving the lives of some of the most vulnerable groups in North Korean society.Following the launch of the PSVI initiative, our Ambassador in Pyongyang raised the campaign with the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and encouraged their endorsement. There was no response from the North Korean Government.The British Government continues to maintain pressure on the DPRK to engage with the international community on human rights and address the appalling reports of human rights violations, as documented in the UN Commission of Inquiry report, including those of sexual violence.

Turkey: Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with Amnesty International the evidence that it has collected that the government of Turkey has in Hatay Province been expelling groups of Syrians almost daily since mid-January.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are in regular contact with Amnesty International in Turkey and would be happy to discuss evidence of specific cases.

Burundi: Foreign Relations

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of relations between the UK and Burundi, and of the security situation in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The security situation in Burundi remains fragile with continued abductions, illegal detentions, torture, gang rapes and killings. We are also concerned at the apparent recent increase in the number of targeted assassinations, most recently the assassination of Brigadier General Athanase Kararuza and his wife on 25 April and the attempted assassination of the Minister of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender, Martin Nivyabandi on 24 April. I join UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in condemning these attacks.We continue to make clear our concerns to the Government of Burundi. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) visited the country in December last year where he urged the Burundian government to engage in meaningful, inclusive dialogue with the opposition without preconditions. In January he met Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe to reiterate this message. Mr Duddridge writes regularly to Mr Nyamitwe to convey our concerns and to urge his government to take the necessary steps to resolve the current situation. Only a genuine and inclusive dialogue, based on the respect of the Arusha Agreement, will enable Burundian stakeholders to find a consensual solution to the situation facing their country.Our Ambassador to Burundi in Kigali travels regularly to the country to meet members of the Burundian Government and we will shortly be increasing the British Government’s presence in Bujumbura through the recruitment of a Burundi Coordinator.

USA: Visas

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they keep statistics regarding how many British parliamentarians have visited (1) Sudan, (2) Syria, (3) Iran, and (4) Iraq, in the last five years; and if so, what assessment they have made of how many may be discouraged from visiting those countries in the future due to the implementation of HR158 under the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015 by US authorities.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Figures for the number of British parliamentarians who have visited (1) Sudan, (2) Syria, (3) Iran, and (4) Iraq, in the last five years are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. As Parliamentarians are not obliged to inform the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of their travel commitments, any figures held by overseas posts may not be accurate. The FCO has not made any assessment of the impact of the implementation of HR158 under the Visa Waiver Programme Improvement and Terrorist Prevention Act 2015 by US authorities on travel by parliamentarians to these countries

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Students: Loans

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government where details of the new checks on alternative providers teaching students receiving financial support through the Student Loans Company can found; in what ways those checks address the issues raised by the National Audit Office in its report Investigation into financial support for students at alternative higher education providers; how often, and using what procedures, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills checks that student attendance data are correct, and that students are genuinely eligible; and what rules have been introduced to ensure that students have the capacity to complete their course.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: Requirements on Alternative Providers designated for student support are set out in “Specific Course Designation for Alternative Providers of Higher Education - Guidance for Providers: Criteria and Conditions and Annual Re-Designation” on gov.uk. Revised guidance detailing requirements for the 2016/17 academic year will be published in the summer. Measures introduced to address the issues raised by the National Audit Office were set out in a Written Ministerial Statement (29th January 2015) available at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/January%202015/29%20January/1.BIS-Higher-Ed.pdf. The measures that are listed as ‘subject to consultation’ have now been implemented in full. Further measures were introduced for the 2015/16 academic year. Student number controls can now be used to limit recruitment at providers with unsatisfactory student completion rates or those deemed to be providing a poorer service than expected. Providers are required to give government better information about their provision to students, for example performance information including their drop-out and success rates. All providers are required to submit data on their students’ background and achievements to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. The Government has also formalised the right to access alternative providers’ premises and records. The Student Loans Company has introduced further checks requiring proof of residence to check student eligibility for support. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also validates different information sources against each other to check coverage, for unusual results and to monitor any discrepancies between reporting bodies.



Written Ministerial Statement
(PDF Document, 84.34 KB)

Students: Loans

Baroness Wolf of Dulwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals in receipt of loans from the Student Loan Company (SLC) are (1) currently out of contact, in that the SLC lacks up-to-date contact information for them, (2) in contact, but behind on repayments that are due, and (3) subject to the SLC being unable to calculate what the payment should be, expressed (a) in absolute figures, and (b) as a percentage of (i) all borrowers across the whole loan book, (ii) all UK domiciled borrowers, and (iii) for other non-UK EU borrowers.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. Statistics covering the repayments of these loans are published annually by SLC separately for each UK Government Administration as part of the Student loans, debt and repayment Statistical First Releases (SFRs):http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx Information on the repayment statuses of home and EU domiciled borrowers, who have been liable to repay, by cohort, can be found in tables 3A and 3B of the SFRs. At the beginning of the financial year 2015-16, there were 2.97 million borrowers of loans through the English student finance system, who have been liable to repay, and had at least one full tax year processed. Of these, 33,400 (1%) still had their repayment status to be confirmed, 13,500 ( Of the 2.97 million borrowers, 39,100 were domiciled in the EU prior to study. Of these, 3,300 (8%) still had their repayment status to be confirmed, 1,400 (3%) had defaulted on their repayments, and 5,000 (13%) had not supplied their income and so been placed in arrears.

Audit: EU Law

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have chosen not to implement provisions relating to joint audit and increased tendering as set out in EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing.

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing, what assessment they have made of the impact of implementing the provisions relating to joint audit on the creation of a more competitive market and limiting market dominance by the largest professional services networks.

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of EU Directive 2014/56/EU and Regulation 537/2014 on statutory auditing, what assessment they have made of the potential impact of joint audit on levels of competition across the UK auditing sector.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government does intend to implement provisions relating to increased tendering as part of the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive. This is in line with the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).The provision on joint audit in the EU Regulation would act as an exemption from having to retender with the frequency envisaged by the CMA. The government consulted on the implementation of the audit directive including this option, and concluded the option should not be taken up.Joint audit is not a practice followed in the UK, though it is expressly permitted by the Companies and legislation on some other entities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on whether to take up this derogation. In response to our discussion document in December 2014 on auditor regulation, only 4 of 25 respondents supported its implementation.It is unclear that increased joint audit would encourage competition. The option in the EU Regulation could result in prolonged audit engagements (up to 24 years) and fewer changes in auditor. This would be contrary to the objective of the CMA and the Regulation, which is to increase retendering and rotation of auditors not less.The CMA considered the impact of joint audits on competition and concluded that promoting joint audits would have little effect on barriers to entry, expansion and selection. The CMA’s conclusions were based on views provided by a range of stakeholders. The CMA was not able to quantify the potential cost of imposing joint audits, but did state that they believed that across the market the costs would be potentially significant. They state that a lot of weight was placed on the views of investors, who were almost universally opposed to joint audits on the grounds of additional costs and risks to audit quality.

Managers: Pay

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Executive Remuneration Working Group’s conclusions that executive pay is "not fit for purpose" and that extensive reform is needed to allay "widespread scepticism and [the] loss of public confidence".

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Executive Remuneration Working Group’s conclusions that the current pay approach for listed companies had resulted in "a poor alignment of interests between executives, shareholders and the company", and whether they have plans to introduce measures to deal with this in any subsequent company law reform.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government has noted the views set out in the interim report of the Executive Remuneration Working Group.Government reforms introduced in 2013 provide a significantly more transparent and robust governance framework for executive pay. The reforms give shareholders a binding vote at least every three years on company pay policies and an annual vote on the remuneration report which sets out exactly what directors have been paid. The annual vote is advisory but if the shareholders vote down the report, the company has to bring a revised pay policy to the next Annual General Meeting.These reforms give shareholders effective powers to challenge excessive executive pay and to hold boards to account on pay policies and it is now for investors and companies to engage constructively to ensure that pay policies are fit for purpose and that they align the interests of executives, shareholders and companies.Evidence from the current round of Annual General Meetings is that the reforms are having an impact and that shareholders are increasingly willing to use these powers where they are dissatisfied. BP and Smith and Nephew’s shareholders, for example, voted against their companies’ remuneration reports and the shareholders of Weir Group voted against that company’s remuneration policy in a binding vote. There have been significant shareholder votes against the remuneration reports at a number of other companies.The Government has no current plans for further legislation or regulation, but expects to see companies liaising effectively with shareholders and adjusting pay policies where there is shareholder dissatisfaction.

Overseas Trade: USA

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent claims by the President of the United States that the UK leaving the EU could cause severe consequences to UK and US trade.

Lord Price: The Government has assessed that the total volume of UK trade with the world would be between 9% and 24% lower after 15 years if the UK left the EU.If the UK withdrew from the EU we would no longer benefit from the trade agreement the EU is negotiating with the US. Negotiating a replacement agreement would take years as the US would almost certainly want to conclude its negotiations with the EU first before deciding whether to enter into separate negotiations with the UK.

Small Businesses: Bristol

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote Bristol as a location for small businesses with an eco-agenda.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Supporting our cities to grow is a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan. As such Government departments are working together to support UK businesses by creating an effective business environment that allows them to flourish.An example of this work can be seen in the Bristol City Deal. As part of this deal the Government agreed to provide over £2m towards creating Invest in Bristol and Bath, a dedicated service established to attract investment to the region. In its first year of operation, Invest in Bristol and Bath helped 30 new companies locate or expand in the West of England area. This has the potential to deliver more than 530 new jobs by 2017.Building on the Bristol City Deal, the recently announced West of England Devolution Agreement sets out further ways in which Government will work with the planned West of England Combined Authority to support business growth across the city-region.

Africa: Visits Abroad

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Prime Minister last visited Africa to promote trade, investment and economic development; which countries he visited; and when he next intends to make such a visit.

Lord Price: Details of ministerial visits overseas are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the gov.uk website. For security reasons, the Prime Minister’s engagements are announced as and when appropriate.

Africa: Visits Abroad

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Chancellor of the Exchequer last visited Africa to promote trade, investment and economic development; which countries he visited; and when he next intends to make such a visit.

Lord Price: Details of ministerial visits overseas are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the gov.uk website. For security reasons, the Chancellor’s engagements are announced as and when appropriate.

Department for International Development

Ethiopia: Private Sector

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to the government of Ethiopia to encourage the development of a strong private sector able to sustain economic development and employment.

Baroness Verma: The UK Government supports the Government of Ethiopia’s vision of becoming an industrialised, resilient country that is less reliant on aid. DFID Ethiopia is investing in an exciting portfolio of programmes to help deliver this, underpinned by rigorous analysis of the key constraints to growth and private sector development.DFID is helping to create 45,000 jobs and raise the incomes of 65,000 people through our support to key Ethiopian priority sectors; increasing the availability of financial products to 350,000 people through support to micro-finance institutions and banks; and helping to increase incomes for over 1.4 million households by providing land certificates to farmers.We are also supporting the Government of Ethiopia to use its own resources well to encourage growth and private sector development. We will provide technical advice on public investment to help the Government improve the effectiveness of its spending. This will include bringing in more private sector finance over time, for example through Public Private Partnerships– i.e. a contract between a private party and government which can bring additional financing as well as expertise. In addition, our work on tax will help the Government meet its revenue targets, improve the business environment, limit corruption and increase transparency.

Department for Education

Teachers: Pay

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what have been the on-costs on teachers’ salaries for the last three years.

Lord Nash: The on-costs on teachers’ salaries consist of employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance (NI) contributions. In 2015/16, the total on-costs for a teacher with an average salary are approximately 25.4% of their gross salary. Employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme are the same rate for all teachers regardless of salary and in 2015/16 they increased from 14.1% of teachers’ gross salary to 16.5%. The table below sets out the on-costs on teachers’ salaries for the last three years:Employer contributions2013/142014/152015/16Teachers' Pension14.1%14.1%16.5%National Insurance7.9%7.9%8.9%Total On-Costs22.0%22.0%25.4%

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Finance

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 April (HL7482), whether views have been expressed by non-executive members of any Service Boards to the Permanent Secretary about rebalancing funds between the fighting environments.

Earl Howe: Non-executive members of Service Boards are able to offer their views on defence matters to the Permanent Secretary. We do not comment on the detail of internal discussions.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many members of the armed forces were convicted by court martial or in civilian courts of sexual assault or rape in the past year.

Earl Howe: In 2015, the Courts Martial convicted 13 Service personnel of sexual assault and two personnel of rape.The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on convictions which may have been obtained by the civilian courts.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many male and female enlistments in the armed forces there were in the past year.

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many males and females left the armed forces in the last year before reaching the age of 18.

Earl Howe: In the 12 months to 30 September 2015, 12,250 males and 1,330 females joined the UK Regular Armed Forces. In the same period, 380 males and 30 females aged under 18 years left the UK Regular Armed Forces. A full breakdown of these figures can be found in, respectively, tables six and 11 of our Biannual Diversity Statistics publication (the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015  



UK Armed Forces Diversity Stats October 2015
(PDF Document, 655.11 KB)

Mediterranean Sea: Human Trafficking

Lord Radice: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contribution they are making to Operation Sophia (EUNAVFOR MED), and what assessment they have made of the success of that operation to date.

Earl Howe: The UK is making a significant contribution to Operation Sophia, the European Union's naval operation countering migrant smugglers in the central Mediterranean. HMS ENTERPRISE has been deployed since 4 July 2015 (with a Merlin helicopter between July and October), and was joined by HMS RICHMOND for October and November. The UK is also contributing five staff officers in the Operational Headquarters. HMS ENTERPRISE's work has been valuable in developing a picture of the maritime environment and smuggling routes, and UK ships have picked up almost a third of the total number of migrants rescued. HMS ENTERPRISE will remain deployed to Operation Sophia until the end of August. The UK contribution to Operation Sophia is one part of the Government's overall comprehensive approach to tackling the migrant crisis, which seeks to address the root causes of migration as well as its consequences.

Somalia: Piracy

Lord Radice: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contribution the Royal Navy has made to Operation Atalanta, and what contribution it is expected to make in the future.

Earl Howe: The United Kingdom fulfils its enduring commitment through the provision of the two-star Operation Commander (Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces and Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces in rotation). The UK also contributes Operation Headquarters facilities (OHQ) at Northwood and on average 60 members of OHQ staff, approximately 40% of the total OHQ.The Royal Navy (RN) will continue to contribute to Operation Atalanta. In addition the RN maintains a constant presence in the Gulf region. Anti-piracy and anti-terrorism measures are among a number of concurrent tasks carried out by the RN and supporting assets.

Ministry of Defence: Patents

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patents have been applied for by the Ministry of Defence or its agencies in the last 10 years.

Earl Howe: The Ministry of Defence and its agencies filed 875 patent applications from 2006 to 2016. This includes patent applications filed in both the UK and abroad.

Department for Work and Pensions

British Home Stores: Pensions

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an estimate of the likely impact of the additional levy that will be imposed on well managed and solvent pension schemes in relation to the BHS pension schemes.

Baroness Altmann: Parliament gave the Pensions Protection Fund independence in how it operates. The PPF sets the pension protection levy at the level it considers necessary to meet its long term funding strategy rather than in direct response to recent claims. Factors relevant to the level of the levy include: the PPF’s existing funding position (£3.6bn in reserves at March 2015); the potential level of future claims; the potential level of assets that may be received from transferred schemes; and expected future investment returns.

Poverty

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of policies and programmes aimed at tackling poverty, in the light of the study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Destitution in the UK, which found that over a million people were destitute at some point in 2015.

Lord Freud: This Government has introduced a wide range of policies and programmes to transform lives, from the flagship reform of Universal Credit to the Troubled Families Programme and the Pupil Premium. The majority of these programmes are audited We know that work is the best route out of poverty. Evidence shows that almost three-quarters of poor workless families who found full employment escaped poverty; and that the highest poverty exit rate of 75% was for children living in families that moved from part to full employment.That is why this Government is committed to policies that provide people with the support they need at all stages to get into work, increase their earnings, and keeping more of what they earn.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rights of Way

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to set up a stakeholder working party with an independent chairman to make recommendations to them concerning any damage to rights of way caused by motorised traffic.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: On 11 February Minister Stewart wrote to all the national park authorities to explain the Government was not going to establish a motor vehicle working group, as he believes in locally brokered solutions as the long term solution to issues around motor vehicles on public rights of way. Defra and Natural England are offering to hold a one-off forum for all motor vehicle stakeholders to share their knowledge and expertise and to discuss ways of working together in the future.

Badgers

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 20 April (HL7528), whether damage caused to bulbs and plants in commercial horticultural establishments, in town and country alike, would be considered serious enough to warrant the issue of a licence.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: As licence applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, whether or not a licence would be issued would depend on the specific circumstances under which an application is made.

Pesticides

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which plant protection products are banned for use in the UK but are currently being used in other member states of the EU.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: There is a two-step process before a plant protection product can be placed on the market and used. First, the active substance or active substances contained in the product must be approved EU-wide by the European Commission. Second, the product itself must be authorised by the Member State. Authorisations are determined on the basis of an assessment of the risks to people and to the environment. The approach to the assessment is harmonised across the EU, but the outcomes of applications for the same product may differ because of variations in national conditions. Companies will decide the Member States from which they wish to seek authorisation and authorisation holders may, at any time, instruct that authorisations are withdrawn. Product authorisations may therefore vary between Member States. At present, there is no central database of authorisations which records these differences.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Homelessness

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to address the rise in levels of homelessness and rough sleeping in England.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government is committed to preventing and reducing homelessness. One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million. This includes a new national £10 million programme to support innovative ways to prevent and reduce rough sleeping, building on the success of our No Second Night Out initiative. We are also developing a new national £10 million Social Impact Bond fund to help to help homeless people with the most complex needs such as mental health difficulties or addiction.At Budget we went one step further and announced we will launch a new £100 million programme for low-cost move on accommodation, including for rough sleepers leaving hostels. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, totalling £315 million by 2019-20.We are working with local authorities, homelessness charities and across departments to consider options, including legislation, to prevent more people from becoming homeless.

Sleeping Rough: Greater London

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of nightly rough sleepers within a quarter of a mile of New Scotland Yard.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: One person without a home is one too many and we are committed to doing all we can to prevent homelessness. That is why we have increased central investment to tackle homelessness over the next four years to £139 million.This will include a new national £10 million programme to support innovative ways to tackle rough sleeping, and will build on the success of our No Second Night Out initiative, which saw two-thirds of rough sleepers in London come off the streets after a single night.DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping. While they are not collected at the level requested, they are available by local authority. These are available (the latest figures are attached) at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2015.The GLA collects more detailed statistics on rough sleeping in London. These are available at: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports 



Rough Sleeping in england, autumn 2015
(PDF Document, 971.92 KB)

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Fracking: Ryedale

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible impact on the local economy and the environment of hydraulic fracturing in Ryedale, and what were the results of the economic impact assessment carried out on that proposed development.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: A planning application for the extraction of shale gas in Ryedale is currently under consideration by North Yorkshire County Council. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment on the specifics of any proposal. It will be for the Council to take into account the impacts of the proposed development on the local economy and the environment as relevant in its determination of that application.The Government continues to support the development of the shale industry in the UK. It has the potential to power economic growth, create tens of thousands of jobs and provide a new domestic energy source, making us less reliant on imports from abroad.

Hinkley Point C power station

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 24 March (HL6984) concerning Hinkley Point nuclear power station, what effect the delay by the government of France will have on the project and its projected completion date.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Both the French Government and EDF have restated their support for the Hinkley Point C project. After addressing the financing of the company and its investment plans, the chairman of EDF has begun a non-binding consultation with the company council ahead of a final investment decision. In the meantime, EDF has maintained development work in order to secure the overall schedule of the project. EDF has not changed the planned date for first operation in 2025.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Procurement

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the effectiveness of the recommendations on public sector procurement by Sir Philip Green.

Lord Bridges of Headley: I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 11 April 2016 to Question HL7227.As a result of the commercial and procurement reforms we made during the life of the last Parliament, we saved more than £21 bn.

Strokes: Children

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children died of a stroke in England in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Referral Letter
(PDF Document, 124.54 KB)

Former Prime Ministers: Allowances

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the levels of public duty costs allowance for former Prime Ministers are determined.

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision by the First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) in Gabriel Webber v the Information Commissioner (EA/2015/0194) on 22 March, whether they will now release claims made, with supporting receipts, of public duty costs allowances paid to former Prime Ministers, and if so, when.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Public Duties Cost Allowance (PDCA) was introduced to assist former Prime Ministers, still active in public life, with the costs of continuing to fulfil public duties. The PDCA is set in line with the annual Parliamentary Staffing Allowance allocated to Members of Parliament as determined by IPSA. In addition, former Prime Ministers are entitled to claim a pension allowance to contribute towards the pension costs of their staff. This is limited to a maximum of 10% of their staff salary costs.The Government is currently considering the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal.

UK Membership of EU

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contingency preparations they are making across departments for managing the transition of policy in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

Low Pay

Baroness Manzoor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, had jobs paid below £10,000 per annum in (a) 2013–14, and (b) 2014–15.

Baroness Manzoor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, worked in part-time jobs in (a) 2013–14, and (b) 2014–15.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Referral Letter
(PDF Document, 328.8 KB)